TV fee inspectors met with anger at the doors
with anger at the doors due to the string of controversies at RTÉ.
The exclusive poll by Amarách Research for the Mail found 53% want the licence fee funding model scrapped, while just 29% believe it should be maintained. The remaining 18% were ‘don’t knows’.
The Government has promised a decision on the future of the licence fee will be made before the summer recess. Media Minister Catherine Martin has said there are two options on the table – either a reformed broadcasting charge to be collected by the Revenue, or direct funding from the Exchequer. The Government has agreed in principle to deliver a bailout of €40million to the national broadcaster to replace the lost licence fee revenue.
However, it is subject to RTÉ progress on more than 100 recommendations made in three independent reports on culture, governance and HR practices at the station.
The damning reports, delivered earlier this month, found that a belief that there would be ‘no personal consequences’ for senior RTÉ officials encouraged a culture of ‘not following specified procedures’. At a meeting in
Montrose this week, director general Kevin Bakhurst said RTÉ is working on a response to the 116 recommendations.
He told staff: ‘We now need to go back to the Government with a detailed response on that in the next few weeks or so and the team is well ahead in working on that.’
He added: ‘You will also have seen what the Government said about the first tranche of extra funding to close the gap from falling licence fee sales.
‘The first tranche is €20million which we expect to be triggered when the process has been gone through, fairly imminently.’
Mr Bakhurst also stated that licence fee sales continued to be down ‘year on year’.
However, he said there had been a ‘steady recovery month on month’.
He added: ‘They are down 10-15% from where they were last year, which is significantly better than we expected to be.
‘But that’s a long-term thing; there has been a high evasion rate for a long time anyway, so it’s a difficult thing to tackle, especially when there has been a very public discussion about a new funding mechanism.’
He said discussions are ‘ongoing’ with the Government over the new future funding model.
Mr Bakhurst said that in the meantime they are briefing the Government on the new strategy from the board, adding: ‘It will go to the Government and it will be laid before the Oireachtas in the next few weeks.’ The director general said there won’t be ‘great surprises’ in it, as it was an expansion of what was set out last November.
Under those proposals, RTÉ committed to a 50% increase in commissioning spend by 2028, as part of a hybrid production model, which will see increased investment in independent production to access and support creativity across Ireland.
The national broadcaster also committed to a new ambition to ‘better reflect Ireland’ by investing in production centres outside Dublin, including a planned Cork content hub, with renewed commitments to Limerick and Galway.
In addition, the plan detailed a pathway toward digital transformation and personalisation, with increased investment in digital products and skills.
Amárach pollster Gerard O’Neill said people were more in favour of the licence in the past than now, in part due to the current availability of on-demand streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, which appeal to a younger audience.
He said: ‘Five or six years ago people would have been more open to the TV licence arrangement than direct funding by the taxpayer.
‘So there has been a decline in support for the TV licence per se and
that’s reflected in some of the numbers here.’
Mr O’Neill believes the waning support is a legacy of the funding scandals of last year.
He added: ‘We see other indicators such as trust in TV news, TV media has declined.
‘People are now more suspicious if not more jaundiced about some aspects of some of the national broadcast media. ‘Previously it was one of the top most trusted brands.;
He added that people ‘still have a high level of trust in RTÉ’, but added that ‘there’s been a move more towards subscription models where you pay for what you get.
‘The model around the TV licence is just more and more anachronistic,’ he said.
‘Younger people – not the very young – are less enamoured with the TV licence and because people have so much more choice, being forced to pay for something you don’t choose to watch just becomes more and more aggravating for consumers.’
The over-55 cohort was least in favour of the fee going. This group includes over-70s whose licences are paid for by the Government.
Men are more in favour of the licence going at 56% compared with 49% for women. The age group most in favour of it being scrapped was 25-34 at 66% – just 18% of them want it to remain.
There was a majority among almost all age groups and genders for the fee being axed.
People in living in Leinster but outside Dublin were strongest in support of it going at 57%. Munster was at 51% and Connaught/Ulster was 56%, while Dublin was less than half at 48%.
People who fail to pay their TV licence face a court appearance and a fine of up to €1,000. Over-70s are entitled to a free licence under the Household Benefits package.
The TV licence costs €160 a year for both homes and businesses.
The nationwide survey of 1,000 adults was carried out earlier this month.